VentureCrowd, Australia’s leading equity crowdfunding platform, is strengthening its Advisory Board ahead of an aggressive push into the retail crowdfunding space next year. The firm has announced the appointment of Jamila Gordon and Craig Swanger to its Advisory Board, bringing significant additional information technology and global investment finance experience to the firm.

Jamila Gordon, former Group Chief Information Officer for Qantas and CIMIC (formerly Leighton Holdings), brings a wealth of experience to the role, alongside her extraordinary personal story. After escaping the Somali Civil War, learning English at TAFE and graduating with an IT degree at La Trobe university, Jamila went on to work for IBM in Europe leading some of the company’s largest deals.

Jamila is also a former Director of GetSwift Limited, the SaaS solution company that optimises delivery logistics worldwide. The company has since enjoyed substantial success under her technology guidance, establishing itself in 70+ countries.

Commenting on her appointment, Gordon said:

“I made the decision to join VentureCrowd because

of its highly experienced executive team, advanced

technology stack and the fact that it is backed by

one of Australia’s leading venture capital firms,

Artesian Venture Partners.”

“As a self-made woman who came to Australia with very little, I am also passionate about VentureCrowd’s mission to democratise the investment management sector and make wealth creation opportunities available to smaller investors who otherwise would not have the chance to participate.”

Craig Swanger is the former Chief Investment Officer and Chief Innovation Officer for Macquarie’s global wealth management network and has established and run funds management and direct investment platforms in fourteen countries.

Commenting on the future of equity crowdfunding in Australia, Swanger said:

“The investment management sector is about to undergo

a fundamental change which will see many investment

managers disintermediated by technology platforms like

VentureCrowd. The VentureCrowd retail offering has the

potential to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars of latent

capital in the first few years and at the same time provide

retail investors with access to wealth creation opportunities

never before available to them, with a couple of clicks of

a mobile phone. This really is the beginning of the democratisation

of finance and it is difficult to predict just how large the opportunity could be.”

Jamila & Craig join VentureCrowd to provide strategic and operational guidance as the firm prepares to launch one of Australia’s first retail crowdfunding offerings.

Viv Stewart, former CEO of VentureCrowd, said “having people of the calibre of Jamila and Craig on the VentureCrowd Advisory Board is a testament to our traction to date and our ambition for the future. Jamila’s experience in rolling out complex information technology systems across borders and Craig’s experience in operating and innovating global investment management businesses are exceptional, and I know they will both make a huge contribution to VentureCrowd’s growth plans.”